Seminole Nation Adam Walsh Act Program

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (AWA) (Pub. L. 109-248, 42 U.S.C. § 16901, et seq) authorizes the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) to administer sex offender management grants. These grants assist state, local and tribal jurisdictions in developing and/or enhancing sex offender registration and notification programs that support substantial implementation of Title I of the AWA, known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). SORNA was enacted to protect the public from convicted sex offenders and offenders against children by establishing a comprehensive national system for the registration of those offenders.

The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma plans to utilize grant funds to support ongoing compliance with SORNA. Funds will support: (1) hiring a full-time tribal registry officer to register sex offenders and input registration data into the Tribe and Territory Sex Offender Registry System used by the Seminole Nation; (2) entering into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Seminole County Law Enforcement Agency to maintain compliance; and (3) reducing violations of SORNA requirements by utilizing the full-time tribal registry officer to ensure sex offender compliance with registry appearances, gather retroactive data on sex offenders to determine registration status, and enforce registry requirements against all residents of the tribal community and all residents within the Tribe's original service area as needed by county and municipal law enforcement agencies.

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